


Operation Woo Magnus Bane

by centaurianwisdom



Series: Stop Running [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec and Magnus find the love they deserve, Alec is dying of thirst, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Confident Alec Lightwood, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, Head of the Institute Alec Lightwood, High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane, M/M, Oblivious Magnus Bane, Out of the Closet Alec Lightwood, Pining Alec Lightwood, Sweet Magnus Bane, Wooing, alec is so in love it hurts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 11:16:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18991567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/centaurianwisdom/pseuds/centaurianwisdom
Summary: The events of Stop Running from Alec's POV.Alec had gone and gotten his stupid heart stolen by the beautiful Magnus Bane. Magnus is not ready for a relationship yet, but that's ok. Alec would wait, Magnus was worth it. Also, if he did a little bit of wooing, put up a little bit of a chase, to speed things up, then none would be the wiser.





	Operation Woo Magnus Bane

**Author's Note:**

> I had a conversation with Ezra (@thesorrowoflizards on ao3 check them out!) and we agreed that Stop Running was too hurried and did not give the full experience of how Magnus and Alec fell in love. So here I present the story from Alec's POV, and the story starts from when Alec first asks Magnus out on the steps of the institute. I highly recommend reading Stop Running before you read this. 
> 
> Featuring thirst af Alec, in which Alec is all of us.

“Playing hard to get,” Alec said, smirking down at Magnus, trying to show a confident front. “I love a challenge.” Magnus shivered even as as he defiantly glared up at him, and Alec was pretty sure he had a thing for an irritated Magnus. Magnus’s glance flicked to his lips one last time, and then he turned away.

Alec watched Magnus Bane turn tail and leave, and his thoughts promptly split into two directions. 

The first train of thought was regarding Magnus’s ass. Because while Alec was half in love with Magnus’s everything, his ass did deserve special mention. Round and soft, defined in his pants. Alec was itching to get his hands all over them. He bet they would be soft in his hands, very kneadable. He would worship it for sure. Bite over the tender cheeks, lick at his no doubt sweet hole, finger him gently and then give him his dick, over and over, till Magnus went wild with pleasure. Some part of him was a bit guilty that he had such obscene thoughts about someone who was not yet comfortable with him. But at that moment, with his eyes fixed firmly on the retreating back that disappeared into a portal, he could think of little else.

The other train of thought considered two facts: number one, Magnus was totally attracted to him. Magnus was definitely queer, and Alec knew he had a somewhat colourful history. Alec had spent enough time in clubs to understand the definite signs of attraction. Number two, Alec was totally smitten. There were no two ways about it. He had not been so attracted to someone ever. He considered the fact that his parents would not approve of him dating a downworlder. But then they already had to accept that he was gay, and he was made Head of the Institute anyway because of his superior leadership qualities and one of the highest mission success rates in the Clave. They would just have to deal.

So, like everything else, he needed to plan the wooing of Magnus Bane. And for this, he needed Izzy. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izzy raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t ‘do’ relationships? That you didn’t have time?”

“Izzy,” Alec sighed, staring out of his office window. “He’s different.”

Izzy made herself comfortable on the sofas in front of his fireplace. “Tell me all about him.”

He turned around to look at her, his greatest confidant and his professional second, and then went to sit beside her. He rested his feet on the centre table and leaned his head back against the headrest.

“Remember when we went to meet Magnus Bane in Pandemonium? For Clary?”

Izzy nodded.

“So, like, I thought he was really really hot at the time. Then later, at his lair, I tried to flirt with him. Maybe I wanted him to sleep with me.” Izzy smirked. Alec glared at her and continued. “Then he came to do the work with the wards in the Institute today, and I was just supposed to let him in and get someone to supervise him and get back to work. But. I couldn't. It’s like I was caught in a spell….but at the same time...not, you know? And I was sticking really close to him and he smelled so good, like nothing I’ve smelled before. And he told me the most interesting stories and he’s so intelligent, so charismatic, and so kind. And then when he was leaving I kinda asked him out, and Izzy, his face was so vulnerable, it made me ache inside. And then he refused, but I know he was attracted to me. And I want to love him, want to take care of him, but he won’t let me.”

Izzy looked a little dazed with his long rambling. “Wow, I’ve never seen you talk about someone so much, big brother.” She smiled gently at him. “You’ve got it bad for him.”

Alec glared at Izzy, with no real heat. “That’s where you come in,” he said with a sigh. “Help me plan for this.”  
“You,” Izzy started with an incredulous laugh, “want a step-by-step plan. For wooing Magnus Bane.”

“Yeah,” Alec said dreamily, which was seriously uncharacteristic for him and was starting to alarm Izzy. But then, he had never fallen for someone so much before. Izzy sighed, and took out her phone and pulled up the notes app. An hour of bouncing ideas and strategies off each other, and this is what their final plan looked like.

OPERATION WOO MAGNUS BANE:

Step 1: Gather Intel. Talk to Simon, get him to talk to Raphael (deputy leader of the New York Clan, close to Magnus). Attempt to build networks in the downworld with Izzy’s contacts. Ask Meliorn, maybe the seelies deal with Magnus. Timeline: 1 week.  
Step 2: Call Magnus to the Institute regularly for unavoidable jobs. Be respectful of his wishes but overtly hint at interest (talks, snack+coffee?). Timeline: 1-6 months.  
Step 3: Build trust. Goodwill with downworld. Ask for his advice with downworld issues. Patrol personally near his address. Timeline: 1-6 months.  
Step 4: Establish friendship. Get to know him. Allow him to know you. Timeline: 1 month - 1 year  
Step 5: Leap of faith. Ask him out. Timeline: Whenever he is comfortable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just this one time, Alec allowed Simon into the institute without a fuss and led him straight to his office.

“Sit,” he said, pulling out one of the chairs out. Simon bravely tried to mask the terrified look on his face. Alec went and sat in his chair, trying to look as imposing as possible.

“Do you have the info I need?” he asked, resting his chin on steepled fingers.

“Y-yes,” Simon said.

“C’mon then, start talking.”

So Simon told him what he knew. Alec grew more and more interested in Magnus Bane the more he had learned about him. He was the one who had taken Raphael in when he was a freshly turned vampire, bloodthirsty and terrified out of his mind. He had helped him calm down, introduced him to his clan and helped him make uneasy reconciliation with his religion and his new vampire status. He was known far and wide for being unequivocally compassionate, helping everyone in need with his powerful magic. He had protected entire cities full of downworlders with his magic during the last Circle Uprising. He was a scholar of repute, about 500 years old, beautiful, glittering, an open proud bisexual. He was powerful and dangerous, he had killed men and levelled entire buildings. Way out of Alec’s league. But, as with most things in his life, Alec would not allow this to stop him from his single-minded chase after Magnus. Because, he was, in the end of it all, deeply lonely, giving his all for everyone, yet not getting anything in return. And Alec intended to give to this unique, magical being. Only with his consent though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had arranged for Magnus to come over for the third time in a week last night, to examine an artifact that had been in his family’s possession and was rumored to have magical properties. He had already cleared Magnus to enter freely in the Institute, and he set down a fresh slice carrot cake with buttercream frosting and marzipan and a cup of thick hot chocolate, all ready for Magnus, on his desk. People were starting to talk about a potential or secret dalliance between the Head of the Institute and the High Warlock, but Alec paid no heed to the comments, and a well aimed glare cowed them into submission. There was a knock on the door, and Alec turned around and was met with Magnus Bane’s cheerful countenance. Magnus smiled bashfully at him and Alec went weak at the knees. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a black silk shirt, an array of necklaces, a brocaded red jacket and his signature dragon ear cuff. His skin was free of glitter, but looked like burnished bronze, and his hair was set in gentle swirls. Fuck, but he was out-of-this-world beautiful. Like an angel.

“Hello, Alexander,” he said in his usual soft voice that was like music to Alec’s ears.

Alec snapped back into himself, and straightened up. He smiled his best smile, and went to Magnus to give him a warm welcome. He shook Magnus’s hand with both of his, marveling at his delicate hands getting entirely swallowed by his huge calloused ones. “Magnus,” he said in the deepest voice he could muster, knowing how it affected Magnus. “Welcome back. It’s so good to see you.” He could see a dusting of pink rise in Magnus’s cheeks, and resisted the overwhelming desire to kiss all over his entire face. They were so close, breathing in the same air. Magnus was looking up at him through his eyelashes, and the line of his nose and the curve of his cheek was enchanting.

“How may I help you today, Alexander?” Magnus asked.

Alec coughed and the spell was broken. “Um, well, I wanted you- uh- I wanted to ask you to examine this artefact that my family has. I think you’ll find it interesting. But, food first?”

Magnus stepped around him and saw the hot chocolate and pastry. “Ah, Alexander,” he said, sighing. “I’m going to get fat.”

“I’ll be sure to bring healthier options later, old man,” Alec said, chuckling.

“Let’s not go that far,” Magnus said hastily. “I do love your snacks.”

“I’m glad,” Alec said, ducking his head, watching Magnus scoop up a bite of the cake and moan around his spoon. Alec was instantly hard, and he shifted a bit behind his desk to hide his burgeoning erection. Magnus had barely taken a sip of his hot chocolate when the Institute alarms started blaring.

Magnus looked around in alarm. “Demon attack,” Alec said tersely, slinging on his bow and quiver full of arrows and hastily stowing his seraph blade in his thigh holster. “Stay here and lock the door. I’ll take care of it.”

“No Alec,” Magnus said, hurrying up to walk past him. “Let me come with you.”

“No,” Alec said, holding him back by his shoulders. “You need to stay safe. I can’t let you go out there right now.”

“In case you have forgotten, Alec,” Magnus said coldly, “I’m the High Warlock of Brooklyn and this is my job. Let. Me. Help.”

In the midst of a demon attack, Alec found Magnus’s steely resolve a turn on. Fuck. He was in over his head. Also, he felt guilty of underestimating Magnus. He nodded, and they left the office together, hurrying towards the Ops room. 

Jace found them in the corridor. “Alec,” he called, falling into a run beside them. “Forsaken have attacked the Institute..”

“What?” Magnus exclaimed. “How did they enter the institute? It is warded against demon blood.”

“I don’t know,” Alec said, brain in full mission mode. “For now let’s just kill the damned things.”

They entered the Ops room to find two Forsaken swinging their clubs around and roaring, smashing through the computers and sending shards of glass everywhere. Alec nocked an arrow and let it go, and it buried itself straight into the Forsaken’s back. However, some sort of demonic energy kept it going. A young shadowhunter was cowering in front of it, her leg broken and at an odd angle, scrambling backwards and trying to draw an iratze on her arm with little success. The creature was about to bring his club down on her head, even as Alec shot two more arrows at it and Jace charged it with his seraph blade. Suddenly, a red burst of magic enveloped the Forsaken, lifting it into the air, and then making it fly at high speed towards the opposite wall, smashing it against the solid stone so that it’s head split open, bits of brain falling out. It fell to the ground, and Alec whirled around to watch Magnus, with red magic sparking at his fingertips. “Go, Alec,” he urged. “Jace and I will take care of thing here.”

Alec ran after the second forsaken, who had charged into the training room. He shouldered his bow, arrow in one hand and seraph blade in the other. The Forsaken was raining down blows on Hodge, who was dodging most of them, but some strikes of the club had caught him in the shoulder and leg, and he was bleeding profusely.

He charged forward, swinging his seraph blade straight at its neck, and severed its head from its body. The large swollen body fell sideways and fell to the floor with a final thump.

Hodge groaned, and Alec rushed to help him up, drawing iratze after iratze to heal his wounds. After all the wounds are healed, he asked, “You alright?”

“Yes, Alec. Just got a killer headache.”

“Go on to your room and rest. I’ll do your debriefing tomorrow.”

Hodge nodded and limped away to the residential quarters, and Alec hurried back to the Ops room.

Magnus was busy at work, magic glowing a serene blue as he healed the various wounds on the shadowhunters. He spoke softly, helping them sit up, repairing broken bones and closing wounds.

Alec tore his eyes away from Magnus, and started directing clean up operations, dispatching severely wounded shadowhunters to the infirmary, and making emergency calls to Alicante to report the Forsaken attack and order new computers and screens for the Ops room. After hours, the extensive damage was finally cleared up some and the Institute was back in some semblance of order. Alec got Jace to check on the injured shadowhunters, and then went looking for Izzy and Magnus, who had vanished in the meantime.

He eventually found them in the mortuary, wearing helmets, Izzy wearing a lab coat. Typical Izzy, of course she had to get to the bottom of the latest mystery and she had to bring her new best friend with her.

“Alexander,” Magnus greeted, sounding a bit tired. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks Magnus. I’m glad you and Izzy are ok too.” To Izzy, he said, “What are you guys investigating?”

“As you know, Alexander,” Magnus began in his melodic voice, “forsaken are mundanes who have been driven mad by burning angelic runes into them without them ascending into shadowhunters. However, the Institute is warded against people with demon and mundane blood, unless invited, and certainly no one invited these Forsaken.”

“The only way they could get in is if they had angel blood in them,” Alec mused.

Izzy nodded. “That is our working hypothesis. Magnus is here to see if any other magical work has been done on the body, while I will examine blood samples.”

“But,” Alec countered, “they would need the blood of an actual angel to be able to enter the wards. Shadowhunter blood will not be enough, because the angelic power will be far too diluted.”

Magnus and Izzy looked at each other, pondering this. Magnus shrugged a little and said, “It’s the only viable theory we have. Let’s examine the blood, and then we’ll know for sure.”

Alec nodded distractedly. “Are you sure you’re not too tired?”

“Yes Alexander,” Magnus said, smiling sweetly at him. “I’m sure. Thank you for your concern.”

“Report back to me with the preliminary findings in my office. I’ll catch you guys later.” But he had already lost them to muttering and research. Alec smiled slightly and left them to their devices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were a series of taps on the door that Alec had learned were characteristic of his object of adoration, and he looked up to see Magnus slumped on the doorframe, a file dangling limply from his fingers. Alec hurried to him, nearly knocking over his chair in the process, and held him close by his shoulders, guiding him to the fireplace. Magnus had gone a bit cold due to overusing his magic, and Alec rubbed his hands in his, keeping him close. For a moment Alec’s mind wandered, imagining that they were actually in love and Alec was entitled to cuddles like this whenever, especially when Magnus was tired and needed comfort. He would undress Magnus and lead him to bed, and then hold him to his own naked body. He would start kissing the jut of his collarbones, his sharp jaw, and then his soft lips, thrusting his tongue in and warming him from the inside. And Magnus would moan and ask for more, and Alec would gladly give it to him, or, even if he didn’t want more, Alec would stop and cuddle him till he was warm and sleep soft, and, and-

“Alexander?” Real Magnus’s voice came, as if from far away, and Alec snapped out of his fantasy to the present. “Magnus, are you feeling a bit better?”

“Yes,” he said, chuckling. “You have done a great job of warming me up.”

Alec squeezed him close again, a last time, feeling his broad shoulders and the broad lines of his no doubt muscular body, and then let him go.

Magnus handed him the file. “Nothing magical of note to report. Izzy has extracted the blood samples and will examine them tomorrow. She would do it today, but the poor girl was dead on her feet, and I forced her to retire for the night.”

“She’s like that,” Alec said fondly. “She works herself to the ground to get to the bottom of something.”

“Seems to be a Lightwood family trait,” Magnus said, equally warm, his hand coming up and brushing a strand of hair off Alec’s forehead absently. Alec closed his eyes at the touch, not even bothering to hide his earnest longing for this magical beauty. Magnus slowly took his hand away, but didn’t move back. Alec took that to be a good sign and opened his eyes and caught Magnus looking softly at him. When their eyes met, Magnus looked away, as if he couldn’t bear to see Alec’s open affection for him. Give in, Alec thought. Give in, Magnus. Let me love you like you deserve.

Magnus cleared his throat. “At the risk of sounding condescending,” he began, “I’m surprised how different you are from your parents. They were Circle members, and you are quite progressive for Nephilim.”

“Well,” Alec said uncomfortably, “a few years ago, my parents put the blame of tarnishing the Lightwood image squarely on me, Izzy and Jace, for conducting unsanctioned missions and for my….dalliances. I came out to them six years ago, when I was twenty, and they dismissed it and treated it like it never happened, and threatened me that I would never, ever express my sexuality. I still went out, to mundane clubs, to get laid and to gather new experiences, because I was wound up tight and I had no other ways to decompress. I became a black sheep in the family. But I still loved my parents, and when they made us feel personally responsible for tarnishing the Lightwood name, I wanted to do something to remedy that. At that time, a clave envoy named Lydia Branwell had arrived to do an Institute audit and operations assessment. I was the Acting Head at the time, because my parents spent most of their time in Idris, and I had the opportunity to work closely with her. I liked her and her attitude, and I reasoned that a marriage with the one of the Branwells would strengthen the Lightwood position with the Clave, and would also enable us to run the Institute together. Understand that at that time, the Institute was nearly out of the hands of our family, and I was willing to do anything to not let that happen.”

“Your narration sounds a lot like a mission report,” Magnus said with a little laugh. Alec grinned at him. “It’s charming. What happened then?” 

“Wait a minute,” Alec said, suddenly remembering that Magnus would need sustenance to recover enough magic to portal home and the cake and hot chocolate was still on his desk. He retrieved it and put it front of Magnus. “I’m sorry, it’s gone cold. I can go to the kitchen and warm it up.”

“No need, Alexander,” Magnus said, patting the seat beside him, beckoning Alec to sit. He clicked his fingers, and steam started pouring out of the hot chocolate and the cake became a little warmer. “You didn’t have to use magic for that,” Alec said reproachfully. “It’s ok,” Magnus said placatingly. He took a bit of his carrot cake and said, “heating food takes only a minimum amount of power. Tell me your story.”

Alec straightened. “Yes, so where was I? Ah, yes, so I resigned myself to a lifetime of passionless marriage and proposed to Lydia. She accepted, even though she knew I was gay. She wouldn’t have loved me anyway, her heart would forever be with her dead husband. The day before the wedding, she let slip that my parents were circle members. She assumed that I already knew. I was so angry, Magnus - all the while they had blamed us for ruining the Lightwood name, while they were the real culprits all along. When I confronted them, they dismissed me, said that it was none of my concern. And that I should concentrate on my wedding the next day. But I was done, so done. So the next day, just before Lydia could put the wedding rune on my wrist, I pulled my arm away. I couldn’t sacrifice my happiness for such selfish people. So I apologised to Lydia, and, bless her, she understood. She told me that I deserved to be happy. So I turned around, and addressed the senior Clave members gathered there. I officially called off the wedding, and announced I was gay.”

Magnus, who was listening raptly, gasped at that point. “That was so incredibly brave of you, Alexander,” he said, sounding awestruck. “I can’t imagine that went down well with the Clave.”

“Oh no, it didn’t” Alec chuckled. “There was an absolute furore, and I just walked out and wandered New York for a while. When I came back in the evening, my parents were gone. I was surprised I could get in actually. There was talk of me getting de-runed. My peers whispered malicious things, but I just kept my head down and worked. Izzy and Jace were there for me every step of the way, and we pooled our resources and started a savings account in a mundane bank, so that I wouldn’t be completely penniless when they eventually kicked me out. But the de-runing never came, and six months ago, I got promoted to Head of the Institute.”

“I’m sure your amazing record and peerless work ethic spoke for themselves.”

“Yes, you could say that.”

Magnus’s eyes were shining with adoration and pride, and it was difficult to look at him. It was like staring into the sun. But Alec looked back at him anyway, and let himself bask in his warmth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec assigned himself an area in Brooklyn to patrol with Jace and Izzy most nights. If the area was centred around the building Magnus lived in, then what of it?

Alec hovered around the building, a shadow in the night, protecting the man he so dearly loved. 

If any being from heaven, earth or hell came to harm Magnus, they would have to get through Alec first. And very few things ever went past him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Alec and Magnus had placed their orders in the artisanal cafe near the Institute that Alec liked to frequent, and had been chatting idly. It was Alec’s day off, and Izzy had been busy, and he honestly could not imagine better company than Magnus. He had spent many of his off days with Magnus over the months, and he had taken Magnus on a picnic to Central Park last time. It was too cold to be outside today, however, and hence they were in the cafe. They were chatting idly, on and off, about various things, and the topic eventually landed on Shadowhunter-Downworlder relations.

“Honestly, after I came out,” Aec explained, “I had to unpack a lot of the prejudices that my parents had passed down to me. Izzy, Jace and I did a whole lot of research, and the atrocities that Shadowhunters committed on Downworlders really sickened me. I had to unlearn a lot of tendencies, and after I became Head of the Institute I tried to remedy shadowhunter perceptions of downworlders and tried to extend a hand of friendship to downworld leaders. I was met with hostilities on both sides, and the High Warlock was….untraceable,” Alec added teasingly.

“Well, I would have come out of hiding long ago if I knew the new Head of the Institute was so amenable to change,” Magnus said, chuckling and sipping the sweet concoction he called coffee. It was unbearably sweet for Alec, who was used to black coffee, but then, maybe sweet people just liked sweet things.

“Your mission is admirable, Alec,” Magnus continued. “It’s revolutionary, I would say. May I suggest something?”

“Please,” Alec said, stuffing a piece of muffin in his mouth. “I’m open to ideas.”

“How about a Downworld Cabinet? It would be forum where all the leaders of every species in the Shadow World got together and discussed issues and how to solve them as a collective. It could broker peace between the vampires and the werewolves, and it would improve nephilim relations with the downworld. Also, with time, an intermingling of all species could encourage the shadowhunters to revise their prejudices as well. We all want peace, Alec, and its admirable that you want to take the first step.”

“That is an excellent idea, Magnus,” Alec said, sighing deeply, “But how do I establish this Cabinet if none of the downworld leaders want to talk to me?”

“They will, Alec,” Magnus said, a determined glint to in his eyes that made butterflies flutter in Alec’s stomach. “This time, I will go with you. I’ll vouch for your honestly, as many times as it takes, to make this Cabinet a success.”

“Thank you, Magnus,” said Alec, overwhelmed, covering Magnus’s hand on the table with his own. “I really, really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Alec,” Magnus said. “As I said, what you want to do is admirable and you’re a good, honest man. I’m sure that under your leadership, this is bound to be a success. To peace,” Magnus raised his coffee cup and clinked it with Alec, sealing the deal.

Their hands remained entangled on the table the entire duration they stayed in the cafe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pathology reports on the Forsaken had come back, and it was revealed that it was indeed pure angel blood that had been used to enable the Forsaken to break into the Institute. Since Valentine was the person to first create Forsaken, and he had risen again, it made sense to assume that he would be the one to create these forsaken as well. It was a frightening thought, that he had actually captured and bound an angel long enough to extract his blood.

Also, Jocelyn’s mother had not awoken, even with their best efforts. In addition to uniting Clary with her mother again, they also needed Jocelyn because she might be the best person to tell them about Valentine’s plans. They needed Clary’s memory back for that, and that’s where Magnus came in.

Magnus had explained that to prevent the memories from falling into the wrong hands, he had fed them to a memory demon, and it was possible to get them back if he summoned the demon and gave it it’s payment.

Clary drew a beautiful, detailed pentagram on the floor of Magnus’s magically expanded study, and Magnus got everyone to stand on the points of the pentagram. Alec stood between Jace and Magnus, while Clary stood beside Jace and Izzy stood between Clary and Magnus, thus closing the circle. Alec felt a jolt of electricity as he held hands with Magnus, and the moment he met Magnus’s eyes over their joined hands seemed to stretch, like the saltwater taffy that Magnus so loved from the Long Island boardwalk (another one of their non-dates), into eternity. Clary coughed knowingly, and Izzy rolled her eyes at them, muttering “such idiots” under her breath. Alec knew for a fact that his siblings, Clary and Simon had a bet about when they would get together, and he also knew the timeframes. He vowed to tell them about him and Magnus after the latest deadline (after New Years, by Simon) had passed, just to spite them.

Magnus warned them to not let go of each other, no matter what, and then began the summoning. The powerful Chthonian chant fell from his lips fluently, and his magic crackled and fizzed in the air. Yet they caressed Alec with care, sparks settling in his hair and humming soothingly in his ear. Alec knew, from Magnus’s long expositions, that his magic was largely an emotional construct. It was smart and intuitive, much like Magnus himself, and treated objects and people the way Magnus felt about them. Alec had felt Magnus’s magic many times by now, and everytime it felt more and more affectionate, less hesitant, more cautiously exploratory, and then increasingly familiar. That’s how Alec knew that Magnus was slowly but surely beginning to feel for Alec what Alec felt for him.

The demon then materialised in the circle, and Magnus’s hand strained in his. He held tight, giving him strength. A forceful wind roared in his ear as Magnus addressed Valak, and then announced to the group that Valak demanded one memory of the person they loved the most from each of them. It started with Izzy, and Alec was touched to see that a memory of Alec smiling at her came out. Next, a memory featuring Jocelyn came out of Clary. The memory extraction from Jace, however, met with some resistance. Alec felt Jace trying to pull away, and realised Jace was about to break the circle. Alec held on tight to him, and a memory was pulled out of Jace, and it featured….Simon? What? Simon was the person Jace loved the most? Before Alec could begin to think about the implications of that, he felt a pull at his head, and out popped his memory of the people he cherished most. And, just as he had predicted, it featured Izzy and Magnus sitting on the sofa in his office, holding hands and laughing together. Two of his most cherished humans, because they were equally important to him. He turned to see Magnus staring at him, tears in his eyes. The demon pulled a memory out of his head too, and the memory featured Alec meeting Catarina for the first time. Alec felt tears jump into his eyes too at that.

The demon then emitted a white stream of incorporeal material, that blew straight into Clary’s head. Memory transfer complete, the demon vanished as suddenly as it came, and Clary collapsed under the overwhelming weight of years worth of memories, straight into Izzy’s arms. Jace stormed off, and Alec decided to talk to him later, and give him time to process his feelings. 

“Take her to the guest bedroom and lay her down,” Magnus told Izzy. “She needs to recover from the veritable onslaught of memories and fit them into the gaps. The fridge is stocked, take what you need. You can stay the night.” Izzy nodded, and carried Clary away. 

Magnus rubbed at his earcuff, and not meeting Alec’s eyes, went into the living room, pouring himself some neat whiskey from the drinks cart. Alec followed him, and stood close to his back, breathing gently down his neck. Magnus shivered and said, shakily, “That was quite a revelation about Jace, wasn’t it?”

Alec grasped him gently by the waist and turned him around. Magnus’s face was cast down, and he was gazing at the floor, with tears gathered like dew drops on his cheeks. Alec put his hands around Magnus’s neck to pulled his face gently upwards wiping away the tears tenderly, because he could not be anything but tender with Magnus. He set their foreheads together and said, “Our memories were quite some revelations too, weren’t they?” Magnus giggled wetly, nodding. “Go out with me, Magnus,” Alec begged hoarsely. “On a real date, this time.”

Magnus grasped his wrist and tenderly ran his thumb along the back of his hand. “There’s nothing I would like better, Alexander.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were in the midst of a war, but Alec could not recall being happier than that day, when golden sunshine spilled across Magnus’s radiant face, Magnus’s exquisite body wrapped tight in his arms, and Magnus had admitted his love for Alec in his soft, melodic voice. 

Alec had laughed delightedly then, and he had hugged Magnus with all the love he had. Magnus had held on just as tightly, and had emitted a peal of laughter when Alec wrestled him down to the floor to have his way with him.

And now, Alec moved inside Magnus, Magnus mewling on the floor, with his voice becoming pitchy as Alec pulled at his nipple and sucked on his golden neck. One of Alec's hands was entangled tightly with Magnus’s beside his head, and Magnus’s other hand roamed his back, grabbing at it, leaving delicious scratched in his wake. Alec moved slow and deep, penetrating Magnus to the hilt. “You’re mine, Magnus, my own. All mine. I can’t believe it,” Alec panted. “I’ve wanted this, dreamed of it for so long, and I don’t know if this is real.”

Magnus pinched his nipple mischievously, and Alec yelped, and then growled, attacking Magnus with kisses and making Magnus giggle adorably. He reverently ran his hands all over Magnus’s body, feeling his broad shoulders and his washboard abs. He groaned when those powerful thighs squeezed him hard, making him pound away on Magnus’s prostate. He stroked Magnus’s dick, urging him to come, and said, “Maybe next time, you can put this in me.”

Magnus came suddenly at that, with a high pitched mewl, cat-eyes at full glory, and seeing those wondrous cat eyes make an appearance made Alec blow his load in Magnus’s ass as well.

He fell forward onto Magnus’s chest and pulled out gently. He stroked Magnus’s hair back, and Magnus stared up at him with a dazed look in his eyes. Alec gently brushed his eyes closed and kissed his eyelids, then his forehead, the tip of his cute nose, the apples of his cheeks, his jawline, and finally, his lips. Magnus sighed, content, and buried his hands in Alec’s hair and pulled him down to rest his head in the crook of his neck. “I love you, Alexander,” Magnus said dreamily, hugging Alec tight.

Alec kissed his shoulder. He could see an infinite number of mornings waking up to this man, warm and content and so, so in love. “I love you too, Magnus.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are so much love and soul food.


End file.
